Carroll's wife, Heather, gave birth to sextuplets Saturday between 8:05 and 8:08 a.m. at Brookwood Medical Center. All six babies were healthy, doctors said, and ranged from 1 pound, 10 ounces to 2 pounds, 5 ounces.

"All of them were born very healthy and that weight spread is a good sign that there was not one baby that was lagging behind, that all of them had grown and developed well," Bill McKenzie, Carroll's OB/GYN, said Saturday. "I'm extremely proud of Heather."

Carroll was 28 weeks and one day pregnant when she gave birth by Caesarean section, meaning the sextuplets were about 12 weeks early. The 30-year-old from Dallas County had been on bed rest at the hospital for weeks awaiting the birth, which brings the family's count to nine, including their almost-2-year-old son, Grant.

During that time, hospital staff prepped for the delivery, staging six formal run-throughs. Each baby -- they were labeled with the letters A through F while still in utero -- had his or her own care team assigned for the delivery. Fifty-one members of the medical team took part in the birth, said Amy Beard, the hospital's administrative director of women's services.

"This delivery required an especially high level of preparation and orchestration and it was flawless," she said. "The mood in the operating room -- everybody was very excited."

The five girls and one boy all came out crying and breathing on their own, although they needed some assistance in the delivery room and are now on ventilators for the time being, said Vick DiCarlo, a neonatologist at Brookwood who is working with the Carrolls.

He said they're doing as well as would be expected for babies born at 28 weeks, even if they weren't multiples. They won't get food for at least a few days, and when they do it will be via a tube to their stomachs. They'll likely remain in the hospital for at least several weeks.

On average, about one set of sextuplets is reported each year in the United States. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania woman had one set; in 2002, the Harris sextuplets made news when they were born at UAB Hospital.

The Carroll sextuplets' delivery didn't take much longer than a normal C-section, McKenzie said. But there were risks, including to the mother's recovery, although Carroll was doing well and sleeping Saturday.

"She's a small girl with a big heart and a strong faith," her doctor said. "I think she and Mitchell were committed to this journey and her family and community have been very supportive and then God was faithful and that's a good formula for success."

Meanwhile, Mitchell Carroll is proudly wearing six ID bracelets -- three pink and one blue on one arm and two pink ones on the other -- that allow him to visit his newborns in the nursery.

"I'm on top of the world!" he said Saturday afternoon. "Everything this morning was perfect."

The babies don't have names yet, and there are lots of other tasks to come, including finding a van that will fit the entire family, although the new dad joked that they could just "throw them in the back of the truck like ripe watermelons."

As for Father's Day, Carroll said, he doesn't have anything planned except hanging out at the hospital with Heather, Grant -- who proudly wore a "big brother" T-shirt -- and their new brood.

"I already had (Father's Day)," he said. "Tomorrow's just another day."